


Of Cats and Wolves (And Truths Therein)

by PsychicPineapple



Series: Derek is a Cat [2]
Category: teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Derek was a cat, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, but Stiles doesn't know about Werewolves, but he got better, he's still a werewolf though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/954324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychicPineapple/pseuds/PsychicPineapple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following One Life Down (Eight to Go)</p><p>Stiles has a theory he want to put to Derek. He thinks he has it all figured out, but he's barely scratched the surface. </p><p>*</p><p>Stiles' jaw dropped as he considered his theory in a new light. ‘Are you some kind of wizard?’ He whispered. </p><p>Derek rolled his eyes, finally compelled to respond. ‘No, Stiles, I am not a <i>wizard</i>.’</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Cats and Wolves (And Truths Therein)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I recommend you read One Life Down (Eight to Go), or this will be a little confusing.
> 
> I know lots of people wanted to see Stiles finding out that Derek was, in fact, Derek that cat - so here we are! I've had half of this written for ages, sorry it took so long. Unbeta'd, because I'm impatient. As usual, feel free to point out any errors for fixing and con-crit is welcome. Also, comments and kudos are appreciated :) Enjoy!

‘Were you my cat?’ Stiles blurted, and immediately cringed because it hadn’t sounded so _totally crazy_ in his head.

 

Derek froze, fork full of beef chow mien suspended halfway to his mouth. His eyes were wide and slightly panicked. The fork wavered, as if hewasn’t sure if he should finish the bite or not. After a moment he let it fall back to his plate, straightening up to regard Stiles with an inscrutable expression. ‘What?’

 

‘Okay so I know I sound _loco_ ,’ Stiles qualified, holding his hands up, palms out, to quash any interruptions, ‘but that cat. His name was Derek, and his fur was the same colour as your hair, and he would get irrationally angry over nothing, and when you get mad or annoyed at me you give me this _look_ that is just one hundred percent _that cat_ , and you both have that spot behind your ears -’ Derek made and impatient sound, ‘ _Okay_ , so,’ Stiles paused to take a deep breath, ‘were you my cat?’

 

Derek rolled his eyes, loading more food on to his already full fork. ‘Eat your egg roll, Stiles.’

 

‘Derek, come on, be serious,’

 

‘ _I_ need to be serious?’ Derek raised his eyebrows, clearly unimpressed. ‘You just asked me if I was a cat.’

 

‘You think I don’t know how nuts I sound?’ Stiles exclaimed, a little too loudly in the hush of the restaurant. ‘I’ve thought about this _a lot_ , okay? I didn’t just wake up this morning and decide to accuse you of being some kind of human-cat hybrid!’

 

Derek slammed his hand down on to the table, the cutlery rattling loudly, ‘Oh my _god,_ Stiles, will you shut up?’ he snarled.

 

Stiles jerked back in surprise, his chair scraping against tile. He and Derek had been together for almost three months, and on countless dates. The guy was a little intense, Stiles could admit; his body exuded power, his clothes said ‘dangerous’ and his body language screamed ‘go the fuck away’. But he could also be quiet and sweet – and kind of a goofball – and that was the side Stiles saw the most. This was the first time he’d been on the receiving end of Derek’s dangerous intensity. He didn’t like it.

 

‘Okay, well, you’re being an ass,’ Stiles muttered, throwing his napkin on to the table angrily, ‘so call me when you’re done with that.’ He expected Derek to try and stop him as he pulled away from the table, to apologise, to offer his dessert in some corny peace offering. But Derek didn’t say a word as Stiles stormed out, climbed into his jeep and slammed the door. And that hurt most of all.

 

*

 

It wasn’t until he was pulling the jeep up in front of his house that Stiles realized he and Derek had just had their first fight over whether or not Derek _could turn into a cat_. He let his head drop onto the steering wheel with a thump and wondered if he could pinpoint the precise moment he went completely insane.

 

 _No_ , he thought determinedly, letting out a slow exhale. _You’re not crazy. You’ve thought this through. You have notes. Note books. Binders._ Or did that just make him a _dedicated_ nutjob?

 

He was pulled violently out of his thoughts as the passenger door opened and he nearly leapt out of his skin. ‘Oh my god, _Derek_ ,’ he breathed, ‘were you a ninja in another life? Holy crap.’ He put his hand on his chest over his pounding heart, then froze. _Wait._ ‘Wait,’ he said turning to where Derek was settling in the passenger seat, a single finger raised as his face crumpled in confusion, ‘how the hell did you get here? I booked it out of that parking lot, and we drove in together.’

 

Derek didn’t answer, just stared stonily out the windscreen, jaw clenched tightly. Frustration flared up in Stiles.

 

‘Okay, dude, what’s up with you?’ He turned in his seat to face Derek. ‘I know you’re not exactly an open book - _believe me_ I know – but this a whole new level of what-the-fuckery.’ he slumped, his head lolling back in resignation. ‘Come on, talk to me.’ His voice was small, quiet, and Derek wilted.

 

‘If,’ Derek paused, inhaled and tensed, as if bracing himself against a blow, ‘if you were right about,’ he moved his hand in a very non-specific gesture, ‘what would that mean? To you.’

 

Stiles frowned, confused. ‘Right? Right about what? I mean – _oh my god were you the cat?_ ’ Stiles bolted upright, his posture rigid and eyes wide as he gaped at Derek. He had been so sure he was right, but so sure he couldn’t be. ‘Is that something that’s actually possible?’ His jaw dropped as he considered his theory in a new light. ‘Are you some kind of wizard?’ He whispered.

 

Derek rolled his eyes, finally compelled to respond. ‘No, Stiles, I am not a _wizard_.’

 

‘Okay, you know what, drop the attitude,’ Stiles said sourly, his patience waning. ‘You basically just admitted you were – for a time – a cat. How am I supposed to respond to that?’

 

‘You’re not supposed to respond, because you weren’t supposed to know.’ Derek growled through clenched teeth, hands fisted on his thighs.

 

‘Oh,’ Stiles breathed softly, turning his gaze out the window, ‘that makes sense.’ He gave a weak smile at Derek’s probing stare. ‘I mean, we’ve only been going out for a few months, right? I’m not sure of the exact etiquette in this situation, but I think shape-shifting reveals are generally held back until things get more serious.’ Stiles’ tone was light, but Derek heard the underlying uncertainty.

 

‘Stiles,’ He said softly, reaching across to touch the younger man’s hand, ‘we are – I am serious. About you.  But there are things about me, about my family,’ he paused searching for the right words, ‘they’re not exactly easy to explain.’

 

Stiles watched Derek carefully in the half-light, his hand sliding up to intertwine their fingers. ‘Is it weirder than the cat thing? Because I feel like it can’t get weirder than the cat thing.’

 

Derek dropped his head, huffing out a laugh. ‘It’s all relative, I guess,’ he smiled, stroking Stiles’ knuckles, and Stiles felt an almost overwhelming wave of relief and affection.

 

‘So we’re good?’

 

‘That’s kind of up to you,’ Derek murmured, his eyes still on their clasped hands.

 

‘So, these things about you,’ Stiles said tentatively, not wanting to push too far, ‘these relatively weird things?’

 

Derek lifted his head, his eyes searching Stiles’ face, the muted glow of the streetlight creating flickers of colour in his eyes, like sparks. ‘If you can trust me, just for tonight, I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. I’ll even show you.’

 

‘Show me?’ A corner of Stiles’ mouth quirked up, ‘Man you’re really ramping up the mystery here.’ But Derek was smiling and the tension in the air had dissipated. Trusting Derek had never been hard, despite all his jagged edges. Sometimes it felt like a struggle to know him, like Stiles was missing some key piece to Derek’s puzzle, but he never doubted that he’d get there eventually. So he held Derek’s hand tighter, and smiled.

 

‘You’ll explain the cat thing too, right? Because I have a lot of theories that I’d like to get the old confirm-or-deny on.’

 

Derek laughed, bright in the shadows, and leaned in to meet Stiles in a soft kiss that was also a promise. Stiles returned it with gusto, breathing his assurances into Derek’s skin.  

 

*

 

Stiles woke up to find Derek watching him with a soft, sickeningly fond expression. Groaning, Stiles shoved a hand in his face and pushed him away.

 

‘Ugh, it’s too early for your perfection.’

 

He felt Derek smile into his hand before dropping a kiss on to the center of his palm.

 

‘I hate you,’ Stiles murmured, even as he pulled his hand away to kiss Derek properly. ‘Morning.’

 

‘Morning,’ Derek echoed, pulling him close. He pressed his face into Stiles’ neck, wrapping his arms around him and holding on.

 

‘Not that I’m not enjoying this,’ Stiles smiled as he stroked Derek’s hair, ‘but are you okay?’ Derek didn’t reply, but Stiles felt his lashes flutter against his throat as he closed his eyes. ‘Derek?’

 

‘I was the cat.’ Derek said without opening his eyes. A moment later, ‘did you just fist-pump the air?’

 

‘No,’ Stiles lied quickly. He felt Derek smile.

 

‘That was a lie.’

 

‘Oh, you’re a human lie detector now?’

 

‘Kind of.’

 

 _What_? ‘What?’

 

Derek sighed against Stiles’ skin before pulling away to sit up, leaning his back against the wall. His unclothed body was aglow in the early morning light, the bed sheets pooled around his waist, and Stiles was entranced.

 

‘Derek, talk to me.’

 

‘I,’ Derek had barely begun before he paused, scrubbing a hand over his face. ‘How am I even supposed to start this conversation?’ He seemed to be talking mostly to himself, so Stiles waited in silence. Derek took a deep breath. ‘I am a werewolf.’ He said it quickly, matter of fact, enunciating each word clearly.

 

Stiles turned away, wriggled a finger in his ear, and turned back. ‘You’re a what now?’

 

‘A werewolf.’

 

‘A…?’

 

‘Werewolf.’

 

‘Like, a man that turns into a…?’

 

‘Wolf.’

 

‘As in…?’

 

‘A werewolf.’

 

‘So you’re a-’

 

‘Stiles!’

 

‘Sorry!’ Stiles yelped, raising his hands defensively. Derek was slouching against the wall with his arms crossed, looking petulant. ‘But you were a cat, right? How…werewolf?’

 

‘It was an accident, kind of,’ Derek tried to explain, ‘a prank that went wrong. With magic. Laura.’ He huffed, rolling his eyes in the universal sign of sibling-related exasperation.

 

‘Right,’ Stiles nodded, his mouth a tight line, ‘magic prank gone wrong. Could have happened to anyone.’ He let out a sudden belt of hysterical laughter before slapping his hands over his mouth. ‘Sorry.’

 

‘Do you want me stop?’ Derek asked, picking at the hem of the sheet.

 

‘No, we should probably just, you know,’ Stiles made a fist and thrust it forward, ‘power through.’

 

‘Right.’ Derek nodded. ‘Well. Okay. I was born a werewolf. My whole family, we’re all…the same. Were, anyway.’ Stiles frowned, his heart clenching the way it always did when Derek mentioned his family. All he knew for sure was that they were all gone, except for his sister; he knew Derek would tell him more when he was ready. ‘There’s not much else to say,’ Derek shrugged, still avoiding Stiles’ eyes, ‘my sister is my alpha – like the head of the family,’ he explained. ‘We can smell better, see better, hear better than other people. We’re stronger. We can do other things, but we don’t unless we need to.’

 

Stiles couldn’t help but ask. ‘Other things like…?’

 

Derek sighed. ‘Don’t panic.’

 

Later, when Stiles had a chance to watch the process more carefully, he would be able to see Derek’s ears lengthening, hair sprouting and disappearing, teeth and nails elongating and brow protruding. As it was, that first time, he looked on with horrified fascination as Derek’s face just, kind of, collapsed.

 

‘Oh my god!’ Stiles flailed so hard he fell from the bed.

 

‘Stiles!’ He looked up from the floor to see Derek peering down at him from the bed. Behind the fangs and the hair and that _ridiculous_ forehead, he could see Derek’s eyes; they were unchanged, the same pale green he’d been so taken by when he first saw Derek standing on his doorstep. They were full of concern, and of fear, but they were eyes Stiles knew well.

 

‘Oh,’ he said, and it was a revelation, ‘it’s just you.’

 

Derek frowned in confusion until Stiles leant up from the floor and pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. He felt the bump of the fangs melt away under his lips, and when he opened his eyes Derek was one hundred percent human, staring back at him with disbelief. ‘Are you…did you hit your head?’

 

‘Yes,’ Stiles admitted with a laugh, ‘but that’s not – I just realized that it was still you under there. And I trust you. So,’ he shrugged, ‘you’re a werewolf, and you were a cat for a while. Magical pranks, what’re you gonna do?’

 

Derek was looking at him like he was something incredibly precious, some emotion there too deep for Stiles to name just yet, although maybe soon. Suddenly Derek was grinning, reaching down to hoist Stiles back up onto the bed – and _whoa_ there’s that strength he was talking about – and pull them flush together. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered into Stiles’ hair.

 

Stiles answered him with a kiss, gentle and languid, trying to convey everything he couldn’t quite put into words. He pulled away to look down at Derek fondly. ‘I can’t believe you were the cat.’ Suddenly he frowned, his eyes narrowing. ‘You were the cat!’

 

‘Uh, yes?’ Derek frowned, ‘I thought we’d establish – ow!’ He cried as Stiles landed a solid punch to his bicep. ‘What the h-’

 

‘You destroyed my room!’ Punch, ‘you almost peed on my bed!’ Punch.

 

‘It was an empty threat!’ Derek yelled defensively, reaching out to grab Stiles’ wrists. ‘I knew you’d take me outside.’

 

‘You,’ Stiles was about to rant again when he stopped himself short, his eyes twinkling mischievously. ‘You were so _cute_.’

 

‘Shut up.’

 

‘You cuddled up to me in bed,’

 

‘Stiles,’ Derek growled a warning.

 

‘I saw you licking your cat-bits,’

 

Derek grabbed a pillow, shoving it against Stiles’ face, ‘I will kill you.’

 

‘You _purred_.’

 

 *

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder that [this](http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/294624_10152055987105203_17890755_n.jpg) is the cat upon which I based cat!Derek. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr at scottmotherfuckinmccall.tumblr.com (no 'g'!)
> 
> Come say hi!


End file.
